My codename is Jackal.
What I do isn't complicated.
I make things happen.
No matter how difficult they are.
No matter how many steps they require.
As long as the conditions are met,
the result should appear.
That has been the case for the past ten years.
Until today.
By the time the report reached me, the internal anomaly had already persisted for a while.
Funds were stuck in the process.
Goods could not be dispatched.
Contracts produced no results.
Every step was normal.
Every record was valid.
But the final step was gone.
Not failure.
Not interception.
No result.
I had not yet found an answer
when another piece of information appeared first.
The Noctrae residential sector had been attacked.
The security unit had lost suppression capability.
Number of attackers: one.
I did not treat this as a routine incident.
One person breaking through defenses is not unusual.
The issue was that line in the report.
Unable to suppress.
I pulled up the live feed
and moved to the scene at the same time.
The perimeter was already sealed.
Not to stop the enemy.
But to contain information.
They didn't want the internal situation to be seen.
I did not take the main entrance.
I entered through a lateral route.
Took a high position.
My field of vision opened.
The courtyard was quiet.
The target stood at the center.
A boy.
Young.
Stable posture.
No tension.
No unnecessary movement.
Around him were over a dozen guards.
Fully equipped.
Properly positioned.
But they had not formed suppression.
They were probing.
I observed for three seconds.
Confirmed two things.
He had not entered full output.
They had no ability to force him into it.
The boy held a sword.
Azure.
Not scattered light.
A fixed form.
Like a weapon that truly existed.
One guard advanced head-on.
Normal speed.
Standard route.
Entered attack range.
The boy raised his hand.
A small movement.
No acceleration.
He simply placed the blade at the correct position.
Contact occurred.
The guard's weapon broke.
Not cut.
Its structure suddenly ceased to exist.
As if emptied from within.
The guard was knocked back.
No second exchange.
Another came in from the side.
Sharper angle.
Better timing.
The boy did not turn.
The sword moved horizontally.
Block.
No clear collision sound.
The attack was not deflected.
It simply stopped.
As if the force had been erased.
The guard retreated.
Not by choice.
He could no longer advance.
The unit adjusted.
They spread out.
Applied pressure from multiple points.
Attempted to create a numerical advantage.
No effect.
The boy did not respond individually.
He just walked forward.
Same speed.
No acceleration.
No pause.
All attacks that landed on him
weakened.
Not blocked.
They themselves became invalid.
I noticed a layer on his body.
Extremely thin.
Azure.
Clinging to his surface.
Like a structure.
Not simple defense.
More like it was adjusting anything that came into contact with him.
A distant sniper position finished preparation.
I gave the order.
Fire.
The bullet left the barrel.
Trajectory stable.
Parameters correct.
Entered hit range.
Then deviated.
Not shot down.
Not interfered with.
The result changed.
The bullet no longer pointed at him.
It grazed past his side.
No defense triggered.
As if the result of hitting him
never existed from the beginning.
The boy raised his head.
Looked toward the sniper.
No search process.
As if he already knew the position.
The sword in his hand disappeared.
Not sheathed.
It decomposed directly.
In the next instant, it reformed.
Into a bow.
Azure structure rearranged.
Energy compressed between the string.
Formed into an arrow.
No aiming motion.
Released directly.
The arrow shot out.
Extremely fast.
Hit the sniper position.
No explosion.
The entire position collapsed.
As if its support had been removed.
The structure could not sustain itself.
Long-range methods failed.
Mid-tier defenses activated.
Automated weapons deployed.
Higher-level ability users joined.
Attack frequency increased significantly.
Coverage expanded.
But the result did not change.
The boy continued forward.
He was not fighting.
He was advancing.
Everything that blocked him
was losing meaning.
The door was closed.
No unlock command.
He walked toward it.
The door was not destroyed.
It simply was no longer an obstacle to him.
He entered.
Walls.
Defense layers.
Isolation structures.
All the same.
Not broken.
Just unable to stop him.
At that moment, I confirmed.
He was not breaking through defenses.
He was changing something.
Turning "cannot enter"
into "can enter."
Mid-tier defenses failed.
He continued forward.
The route was direct.
No detours.
The core area lay ahead.
The most stable place in the entire residence.
Highest authority.
Strongest defenses.
The final point of all protection.
He reached it.
Stopped.
Did not continue destruction.
The space became quiet.
The interior was no longer hidden.
Not found.
It simply could no longer remain hidden.
Noctrae stood there.
No guards.
No weapons.
Positioned exactly at the core.
He had not come out.
He had always been there.
Only now, he could no longer be isolated.
The boy looked at him.
Ten meters apart.
Did not approach further.
A few seconds of silence.
The boy spoke.
"Are you in charge?"
Not a question.
Noctrae answered.
"Yes."
Condition confirmed.
The boy nodded.
"I'll give you a choice."
Calm tone.
"Kill yourself."
A brief pause.
"Or everything connected to Noctrae disappears."
He glanced around.
The fallen.
The collapsed structures.
There would be no results here anymore.
Not a threat.
A statement.
I stood at a high point.
Did not intervene.
I already had the answer.
For the past ten years,
I have only done one thing.
Make problems solvable.
No matter how complex,
there is always a way.
Make the result exist.
But today,
I saw something else.
Not that it cannot be solved.
From the beginning,
there was no solution.
Bullets cannot hit.
People cannot approach.
Actions cannot execute.
Not blocked.
These results themselves
do not exist.
And that boy
makes these results exist again.
After he appeared,
entry can happen.
contact can happen.
results begin to appear.
I do not need more records.
The conclusion is sufficient.
This lockdown
is not a system issue.
Not an attack.
Not interference.
It is something earlier.
The result was erased.
And he
made the result appear again.
I gave no further orders.
No meaning.
This is not a gap in strength.
It is a difference in level.
For the first time, I confirmed
there exists something
that can decide
whether something
can happen.